


Sit Rep

by Triskellion



Series: Online [3]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Basement, Boat, Bourbon - Freeform, M/M, season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 20:19:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13418889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triskellion/pseuds/Triskellion
Summary: Tony told the team he was going to give Gibbs a sit rep. That's the plan, no matter what his libido is pushing for.





	Sit Rep

Gibbs leaned toward the gun he kept on the work bench when he heard the creak in the floor boards that heralded someone walking through the front door. Firm steps echoed through the timbers, headed directly to the kitchen in a familiar pace. There was no threat. Relaxing, Gibbs turned his attention back to shaping the plank under his hands, ignoring the figure that soon settled on the lower steps.

“Ziva says she'd never heard even a hint of those photos existing before, so the courts must have sealed the records effectively. Seems no one's heard of it yet, either.” Tony's calm voice finally broke the near silence.

Gibbs paused for a moment to take a sip of bourbon from a dusty coffee mug, barely considering the words. As he did so, he looked over at his senior field agent, noting the suit had been replaced with jeans and a sweat shirt some time between the office and his basement. And yet, the man looked even more uneasy than he did in the office. Not a social visit then. Gibbs let out a noncommittal grunt and went back to planing. No need to give too much away too soon.

“McGee got the photo removed and is doing a search to see if there are any more out there. He promised to keep an eye out for any similar posts in the future.” Gibbs looked over, raising an eyebrow pointedly. “Off company time this time, boss. He promised it was a private project.”

Gibbs only shrugged slightly and ran a hand over the surface he'd been working since he got home from the office as though it were the most important thing in the world. Almost right.

“Abby's threatening to trash Diane's credit cards and take other forms of unspecified revenge,” offered Tony, his tone part serious, part teasing.

“Abby knows?” A smile flickered at the corners of Gibbs' mouth as he asked. Somehow, it figured. That girl got her nose into everything. It was one of the things he loved about her. He could have lived without her knowing, but one never got everything one wanted.

“She cottoned that something weird was in the aether and McGoo buckled.” Tony rolled his eyes. Of course Abby went for the weakest link. Gibbs had expected nothing less. “I won't swear she didn't turn around and blab to Ducky, but I doubt it's gone further than that.”

“Ducky already knew about those pictures,” Gibbs admitted. He smiled as he remembered how Ducky had supported him after that horrific meeting with the judge. He'd been in shock, understandably. “I probably still have the copies Diane threw at me around the house somewhere.” There were a few fond memories attached to the madness.

“Really?” Tony asked, sounding rather ... eager. “Sorry, not my business,” he added quickly. 

Gibbs glanced at the younger agent, hiding it behind his coffee mug. He hadn't expected that eagerness, though given the look on Tony's face when he got to the office maybe he should have. Wasn't something he should go encouraging, however. Gibbs made a mental note to ask Tim who might have copies of the photo and see they got burned or whatever one did to electronic files.

Silence filled the basement again save for the rasp of sand paper over wood. It was eventually Tony who broke the silence again. “Abby proved that the picture was posted from Diane's internet account. McGee is tracking her online activities to see if she's targeted anyone else. Says it would be easier with her computer, but he seems to be having fun all the same.”

“She always was a solid gold bitch,” Gibbs muttered. Tony, with his preternaturally sharp hearing, heard him fine and fought back a chuckle.

“You married her,” Tony couldn't resist pointing out.

“Not my first relationship mistake, nor my last,” Gibbs replied dryly. No, not his last. Jen, Stephanie, hell, Hollis could be added to that list.

“I gotta say, boss, despite your predilection for redheads, you don't seem to have a lot of luck with the breed in the long term.” Tony's eyes were fixed above Gibbs' head when his boss turned to look at him, and his posture was anything but relaxed.

Gibbs winced, but he had to admit Tony had a point. It was always redheads and always a disaster, and he knew exactly why he kept kept walking down that path. “I was always trying to replace the one woman I really loved,” Gibbs admitted softly.

“Shannon,” Tony whispered, dropping his eyes to the floor.

Knocking back the last of the bourbon in one slug, Gibbs turned and refilled his mug. Admitting that definitely earned him a drink. He didn't do touchy-feely, not anymore.

“So, who were you trying to replace with the man in the picture?”

Gibbs choked on his next sip of bourbon. Sure, Tony was known throughout NCIS as one of the few agents who dared to stand up to him, but he still didn't expect the ex-cop to dare that question. It took a few moments of gasping to catch his breath before he could reply. His mind spun as he looked for a response. A glare was an option. The question was certainly out of the range he would usually answer. Maybe he had had more to drink than he thought if he was so willing to talk.

“Diane,” he finally said. “I was a bit sick of redheads at the time. And women.”

“Don't blame you there, boss,” Tony said dryly. When Gibbs looked over, it was impossible to miss the pain and anger in the younger man's eyes. Right, Jeanne. What a cluster fuck that was.

“You ever get tired of chasing skirts, DiNozzo?” Gibbs froze even as the words left his lips. Where the hell had that come from?

Tony snorted, his body shaking slightly with laughter. “Could say that. Mostly do it to piss off Ziva these days.”

And why the Mossad officer was so sensitive to DiNozzo's dating habits was not something Gibbs wanted to consider in detail. That woman was looking for trouble if she didn't slow down soon.

“Some things never change,” Gibbs said with a smirk. And yet, in the last year Tony had changed a good bit. “But others do. Guess you aren't quite the playboy I hired anymore.” It was as close as he would ever get to apologizing or acknowledging the changes his senior agent had gone through in the last few years. There were days he would give almost anything to have Kate back in the office, she and Tony bantering back and forth on the edge of acceptable behavior. Gibbs closed his eyes against the pain of that thought and grabbed his bourbon again.

“Not really,” Tony said softly, eyes on the hands he had clasped in his lap.

“Everyone's gotta grow up sometime, DiNozzo,” Gibbs said firmly, leaning back into his sanding. Too many dark memories in the air tonight.

“Where's the fun in that?” Tony whined playfully. Gibbs only snorted and shook his head. What that boy thought of as fun was more what Gibbs' father would have call trouble. But Gibbs wasn't Tony's dad (thank God), so he wasn't responsible for reigning in those excesses unless they impacted a case. Of course, sometimes he felt like he was working with kindergarteners instead of trained federal agents...

Silence reclaimed the room for a time. Gibbs sanded, and Tony watched. But while words seemed out of reach, that didn't mean Tony could stand being still for too long. Soon, he stood and began circling the room, looking at the shaped and unshaped pieces of wood around the walls, at the tools on the work bench, at the jars attached to the shelves by their lids.

“Do you usually put your cell phone in with the bolts?” Tony asked at one point, twisting the relevant jar free to retrieve the small phone.

“Depends,” Gibbs replied blandly. Depends on if they were on call, if an ex-wife was on the war path, or an ex-girlfriend, or sometimes an ex-boyfriend (been a few years on that one), or if he just wanted to get it out of the way before the sawdust gummed up the works. “Sometimes I put it in the jar of paint thinner.”

“Got anything else to drink out of?” Tony was eying the bottle of bourbon with disturbing interest.

“Bottle, cups upstairs, or I've just dumped out that jar a time or two.” A smirk twitched at the edges of Gibbs' lips as he glanced over at Tony. Tobias always got huffy with that suggestion. Much to his surprise, his senior field agent did just that, dumping the bolts into a neat pile on the table and pouring two fingers of bourbon into the bottom of the jar. The first sip resulted in a short coughing fit, but the second went down smoother.

“Slow down or you aren't driving home,” Gibbs suggested as the second sip was followed quickly by a third and a fourth. He'd seen the younger man drink before, but this behavior was more than a touch concerning.

“Maybe I don't wanna,” Tony muttered into the jar as he took another sip yet. 

Uncertain how to reply, Gibbs just stared at Tony for a minute before turning back to his boat. He reminded himself he wasn't Tony's father and made a mental note to confiscate the other man's keys when he passed out. Then he tuned out Tony's drinking and continued wandering for awhile, focusing on getting just the right sheen on the plank in front of him. However, his attempts to tune out his visitor failed when Tony leaned past him to look at the boat. Gibbs wasn't sure if it was his movements sanding or the bourbon that resulted in Tony being plastered to his back from neck to groin.

Gibbs froze, utterly startled. Tony seemed disinclined to move, and Gibbs had to admit the contact felt rather nice. However, it was not appropriate. After a moment's silence, rather than yelling Gibbs settled for an innocuous, “Having fun back there?”

He could feel the grin on Tony's face from the heat radiating onto his neck. “Maybe,” was the playful reply whispered into his ear.

No way the younger man would do something like this without being drunk, and as much as Gibbs was enjoying it, it really wasn't appropriate. He didn't want to find out tomorrow that a sober Tony regretted the actions of a drunk Tony (would both of them regret it?). “You must be a bigger lightweight than I thought if I have to pour you onto the couch already.” 

That comment got the reaction he wanted. Tony straightened and took a step back, and when Gibbs turned to him he looked completely sober and more than a little frustrated.

“You want to tell me what this is about, Tony?” Gibbs asked, wincing internally at the slip of a name. He needed distance before he did something they'd regret.

“Wish I knew, boss,” was Tony's reply, his eyes fixed on a point past Gibbs' left shoulder like any good marine being reamed by a senior.

“This about that picture? Make you curious?” Gibbs snapped in his best drill sergeant imitation. Not what he really wanted to ask. Not what he really wanted to think about. As much as he played it down in the office, seeing that photo on the internet had been a real hit below the belt. And yet, seeing the expression on Tony's face as he looked at that photo had caused a completely different reaction below the belt. But he wasn't thinking about that either, not if he was going to keep control.

“More like, made me wonder if my dreams weren't as far out of reach as I thought,” Tony replied, then winced as though the words had jumped out with little input from his brain.

“Rule twelve,” Gibbs countered blandly, trying to build some safe, sane walls, but that just made Tony angry.

“I am not Jenny Shepard,” he snapped, taking a half step forward.

“No, you aren't,” Gibbs agreed, pressing a hand against Tony's chest in lieu of stepping back himself. He didn't dare retreat, or so he told himself. It had nothing to do with the urge to touch. “Wrong hair color.” Wrong a lot of other things.

“Didn't look like that stops you with men.” He had a point. The man in the photo was clearly a blond, and a natural blond at that.

Gibbs sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. He knew that the extent of his attraction to redheads could be laid squarely at the feet of his first wife. Oh, he'd liked them well enough as a teen, but it was trying to somehow replace Shannon that had truly fixated him. For women, at least. He'd never had a similar focus for men, and so when he did decide to play around, hair color was the least of his worries. Discretion, especially for an ex-marine raised in a rural small town (damn Chuck), was much more important.

“What do you want, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asked, opening his blue eyes and pinning Tony in place with his stare.

Tony's eyes were wide with both pain and curiosity. “Maybe I just want to forget,” he whispered, fingers reaching up to softly trace his boss' jaw line.

“There are better people to help you forget. Me, you'll have to face again in the morning, and every morning at work.” And if he kept reminding himself of that he might get his hand to drop instead of leaving it there to soak in the heat his senior agent was radiating.

“I could quit.” Tony shrugged and dropped his hand but not his gaze.

“I thought you'd gotten running out of your system.” Gibbs' fingers clenched slightly, bunching Tony's sweat shirt as if that were enough to hold him here. “It's been six years.” He had not put all that effort into training Tony up to lose him now.

“I stayed for you. I love the work, but I love working with you even more. Now, I'm wondering if you aren't enough anymore, if I need to leave ... for me.”

The fingers of both of Gibbs' hands clenched into fists, one gripping Toy's sweat shirt, the other at his side. “And if I don't let you go?” he asked sharply.

“What say do you have in it?” Tony snapped, stepping back and trying to shrug off Gibbs' grip.

“I'm. Your. Boss.” Gibbs' grip tightened with each word and he matched Tony's step. Anger pounded in his ears and while he knew this wasn't the best way to confront Tony he couldn't seem to stop.

“So's Jenny, and I wouldn't let her stop me.” Tony's eyes narrowed as he wrapped a hand around Gibbs' wrist and tried to break his grip. Tried being the operative word. Even after six years training with Gibbs, he couldn't match the older man's marine training.

Gibbs said nothing, staring deep into Tony's eyes with a frown on his lips. Tony's words turned his anger to cold fury, and it showed.

“Not that I've every stayed for her ... not really. You're the only boss I really wanted ...” Tony stuttered, breaking under that stare as he always did. 

“That why you didn't take the position in Rota?” Gibbs asked dryly. “For me?” Oh, he'd wanted to ask that question for so long, but hadn't dared. He might not like the answer.

“How the hell do you know about that?” Tony snapped, his grip tightening on Gibbs' wrist. “Oh, I forgot, you know everything. You're always right. Well, congrats, you're right. I thought you needed me, and so I stayed. I thought the team needed me, so I stayed. I thought ... Jenny was finally treating me like someone worthwhile, and I thought ... I stayed for you, boss, for the holes in your head. And thanks to that, Jenny screwed me and had me screw Jeanne and I am so damned sick ...”

Gibbs cut off Tony's stream of words with a slap to the back of the head. Tony wasn't thinking any better than he was. “You gonna let those women drive you from the job you love?” Rather than falling back to his side, he then ran his hand down the back of Tony's head and gripped the back of his neck lightly. He struggled to release his anger and focus on keeping his agent. He wasn't going to let the Director drive off the only agent who'd ever managed to put up with him in every mood.

“Give me a reason to stay,” countered Tony once the startled look left his face. His shoulders twitched for a moment, then relaxed under Gibbs' touch, and he released Gibb's wrist, dropping his hand to his side.

Gibbs gasped softly as the meaning of Tony's words sank in. And he meant it, Gibbs could see that in the younger man's eyes. He wanted ... they wanted ... yet ... “And if it doesn't work out?” Gibbs' words were gentle, his expression open. 

“If it doesn't work out, we talk ... as best we can seeing as it's you.” Tony grinned, his eyes twinkling. “If it doesn't work, or things change, I'm not going to vanish without a word. Might take the next offer for Rota ...”

Gibbs couldn't hide the spasm of pain within at those words. Jenny had left like that, by her own choice. Shannon didn't have a choice. So many others left with anger in their hearts, men and women alike. 

“You should have taken that offer the first time,” Gibbs said through clenched teeth, squeezing the back of Tony's neck. 

“Would have saved me some pain,” Tony admitted, his head dropping under Gibbs' touch. “But it would have been the wrong decision. It would have been running.”

Slowly his fingers relaxed, releasing Tony's sweat shirt. Gibbs let his hand smooth over the bunched fabric as he spoke. “You deserve your own team.” 

“And I belong here,” Tony countered, leaning lightly into the older man's touch. “When they offer me a team here, maybe I'll take it.”

They stood in silence for a time before Gibbs leaned in and kissed the top of Tony's head. No matter how his brain spun, he only saw two options, and only one was acceptable to him. There were risks, but so much potential. “Ah, Tony,” he whispered, dropping his hand from Tony's chest and bringing the other around under the younger man's chin, raising it so he could see those green eyes again. “What am I going to do with you?” It wasn't a declaration of love, but maybe Tony would understand.

“Well, slapping me on the head and barking my name has worked so far, boss, but this time I was kinda hoping for a kiss.” Tony's tone was light and joking, but there was both an eagerness and a wariness in him. Gibbs smiled because Tony understood.

“Jethro,” Gibbs suggested. “Or Gibbs. If you're going to start calling me boss in bed, we're going to have problems in the office.” He did not need a hard-on every time Tony called him boss, and he had a feeling that was exactly what would happen after a few times hearing the younger man call him that in the throws of passion. Tempting, but work needed to stay the same.

“How about we start with Gibbs?” Tony's hand reached up and traced Gibbs' jaw line again, this time with more confidence. Air caught in Gibbs' lungs and a gentle tug on his chin drew Tony forward until their lips met in a soft kiss. It wasn't earth shattering or world changing, but it was soft and warm and felt just ... right.

“You done this before?” Gibbs asked a minute later when they separated, his body eager to move forward even if his mind was still ill at ease.

“In general, with a man, or with my boss?” Tony asked teasingly, his dilated eyes and his flushed cheeks showing his mutual interest.

“I know what you get up to in general,” Gibbs snapped, but without his usual harshness. “You share way too much at work. I mean with a man.”

“Would have thought your background check would have picked up on why I left Peoria,” Tony said teasingly, even as his neck stiffened under Gibbs' fingers. Gibbs knew, and Tony caught the truth in his look because he gasped and said, “You did know.”

“I heard _rumors_ ,” Gibbs countered firmly. Scuttlebutt did not mean fact, and he'd never bothered to confirm the rumors. “Those would have been enough to send most packing even without something to back them up.”

“There wasn't much backing them up, but it existed.” Tony shivered slightly. “I've gotten more discreet since ... so yes, but not very often.”

“Same here,” Gibbs said, his fingers creeping up into Tony's hair. They shared a smile as they thought of the photo that had brought them together tonight, proof of Gibbs lack of discretion in the past. “You sure you want to try this? Not picking someone with a very good record.” 

“I'm not looking for a ring. Figure that gives me a leg up,” Tony teased, pulling Gibbs in for another kiss.

Gibbs pushed him back lightly. “That hasn't saved some of them.” He had more than four broken relationships in his past, way more.

“Six years, Gibbs. I know you, and I'm willing to take that risk.” Then again, so did Tony. This time Gibbs didn't resist when Tony pulled him close.

This kiss was anything but light. It was passionate, it was wild, and it was just as wonderful. It was a struggle for Gibbs to pull away, but he had to before his knees buckled and they knocked something over. Hollis' kisses had never hit him that hard. “Upstairs,” he suggested, tugging Tony towards the stairs by the back of his skull.

“Why wait?” Tony asked teasingly, following Gibbs close enough to still feel his body heat. “You sleep down here often enough.”

“I sleep down here with my clothes on, DiNozzo,” Gibbs snapped gently. “I'm getting to old to dig splinters out of my ass just to suit your kinks.”

“Tony,” Tony breathed as they lock stepped up the stairs. “Start calling me DiNozzo in bed and we're going to have real problems in the office.”

Gibbs grinned wickedly. He didn't really want this exposed at work, and yet the ability to get that flustered look on DiNozzo's face at any time was tempting. “Hmm, that has potential.”


End file.
